According to L'Équipe, the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) sent a letter to FIFA requesting an explanation for several decisions made during their match against Portugal, calling the VAR process "completely wrong" and accusing it of "disregarding the rules and spirit of football."

The controversy centers on Joško Gvardiol's disallowed goal in the 13th minute of stoppage time. The Manchester City defender thought he had helped his team equalize and force extra time, but after VAR intervention, the goal was ruled out. The reason was that Igor Matanović lightly touched the ball during the attack, which resulted in Mario Pašalić, who assisted Gvardiol, being in an offside position. Matanović's touch was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but the "Snicko" sensor inside the ball did detect contact.

Croatia found this decision both incomprehensible and unacceptable. FIFA stated the next day: "Based on data provided by the Trionda-embedded Connected Ball technology, it has been confirmed that Igor Matanović, number 20, touched the ball." Despite this, the Croatians decided to speak out.

Modrić immediately stated after the match: "There is no evidence that he touched the ball." It wasn't until Monday, July 6, four days after the loss, that the Croatian Football Federation publicly sent a letter to FIFA, expressing "deep disappointment and disagreement" with the match against Portugal, "not because of the decisions themselves... but because of the entire process that led to these decisions." In addition to expressing confusion about the way VAR was used for Portugal's penalty kick, the HNS also mentioned the disallowed goal at the end of the match.

The organization stated: "Gvardiol's equalizer was ruled offside due to a non-existent interference from Matanović, which disregards the rules and spirit of football, while the sensor readings indicate the exact opposite." In the eyes of the Croatians, football decision-making technology has crossed another line: "We believe this constitutes an abuse of technology." This system has also caused controversy before.

In Sweden's match against Tunisia, Sweden's fourth goal, scored by Mattias Svanberg in the 84th minute, was deemed valid after this technology was used. At the 2024 European Championship, Romelu Lukaku also had a goal disallowed after "Snicko" intervened.

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